Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Reigning Women’s British Open champion Miyu Yamashita bounced back from an early bogey to join a three-way tie for the lead on Thursday in the LPGA Aramco Championship. The 24-year-old from Japan had an eagle and four birdies on the way to a five-under par 67 at Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, and shared the first-round lead with compatriot Nasa Hataoka and American Lauren Coughlin.
“The course is tough, but it’s fun to figure it out,” said Yamashita, the world number six who captured her first major title at Royal Porthcawl last year and added a title in Malaysia on the way to earning Rookie of the Year honors. She teed off on 10 and bogeyed the 15th, but bounced back with an eagle at the par-five 18th and added four birdies coming in.
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Hataoka, a seven-time LPGA winner, also recovered from an early bogey, dropping a shot at the first but bouncing back immediately to birdie the second. She added five more birdies and after picking up a stroke at all four of the par-fives said that was crucial on a course that offered relatively few birdie chances. “Last week, almost every hole you can try to make a birdie, so (this is) a totally different type of golf course this week,” she said. “So that’s why par-fives are very important. I played good today.”
Coughlin, chasing a third career title, got off to a hot start with birdies at the 10th and 11th. She added two more at 16 and 18, then birdied three and seven before her lone bogey at her final hole, the ninth. The leading trio had a one-shot lead over world number two Nelly Korda, third-ranked Kim Hyo-joo of South Korea, and American Jing Yan.
America’s Korda, who finished runner-up to Kim in each of the past two weeks, birdied four of the first seven holes, stumbled with a pair of late bogeys, then eagled the par-five 18th for her 68. Kim, who won the Founders Cup before defending her title at the Ford Championship last week, shook off an early bogey to card five birdies while Yan posted eight birdies to counter two bogeys and a double-bogey.
The field includes all of the top 20 players in the world. The event is co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour as part of the PIF Global Series and features a $4 million total purse with a $600,000 winner’s prize. World number one Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand was five shots off the pace after an even par 72.
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